🇫🇷 France
Moving to Paris
Almost every Paris landlord wants a garant: a French-resident guarantor earning around three times the rent who will cover you if you default. Newcomers rarely have one, and this — not supply — is what ends most searches. There are established alternatives, and knowing which one you qualify for before you view changes the whole experience.
- Visit
- €49
- Starter
- €899
- Premium
- €1,900
The flat is findable. The guarantor is what stops most foreigners.
Where to live
Neighbourhoods in Paris
11th (Oberkampf, Bastille)
Young professionalsThe most consistently popular arrondissement for new arrivals. Lively, central, and crossed by lines 1, 3, 5, 8 and 9; ask about street noise before you sign.
10th (Canal Saint-Martin)
Couples, creativesGare du Nord and Gare de l'Est, the canal, and cheaper than the 3rd or 4th for a similar feel. Quality changes block by block near the stations.
15th
Families, quieter moversThe most populous arrondissement: large, residential, with markets, parks and schools, and genuinely good value for somewhere entirely inside the Périphérique.
17th (Batignolles)
Families, couplesVillage streets round the Square des Batignolles and the newer Clichy-Batignolles district with its big park, on line 14 to the centre in minutes. Dearer than the east.
Montreuil & Pantin
Value seekersJust outside the city on lines 9 and 5, with rents that reflect the boundary rather than the distance. The flat-rate Navigo means living here costs nothing extra to travel.
What it costs to rent
Indicative rents
Monthly, charges comprises — service charges usually included, electricity not. Furnished lets are common and cost more. In 2026 a Paris studio averaged roughly €900 a month and a two-room flat about €1,700, all charges included.
- Two-room (T2), central€1,400 – €2,000
- Studio, central€900 – €1,300
- Studio, outer arrondissements€750 – €1,000
Indicative only · last checked · your Insider confirms before you commit.
What catches people out
The keys in the post
An owner posted abroad, a photogenic flat, and a deposit requested by transfer. It is the most common fraud in the French market and it targets people applying from another country.
Agency fees above the cap
Tenant-paid agency fees are capped by law, per square metre, and vary by zone. A fee quoted as a percentage of annual rent is a red flag.
Furnished versus unfurnished
An unfurnished lease runs three years and is hard for a landlord to end; a furnished one runs a year. The shorter term is often sold as a convenience — it is also less protection.
After the keys
The admin that follows a move
On Premium, your Insider does this with you rather than sending you a checklist.
How long a move to Paris takes. Four to six weeks. The dossier takes longer than the viewing list.
- Step 1
Sort the guarantor before you view
Visale is a free state-backed guarantee that many newcomers qualify for, covering rents up to €1,940 a month in Île-de-France since January 2026; private services charge a percentage. Either is accepted far more widely than 'I will pay a year up front'.
- Step 2
Home insurance is mandatory
You must produce an attestation d'assurance habitation at signing. It is inexpensive and can be arranged online in minutes.
- Step 3
Do the état des lieux properly
The inventory at move-in decides your deposit at move-out. Photograph everything, note every mark, and keep your copy.
- Step 4
Electricity and internet
EDF or any alternative supplier for power. Internet installation in older buildings can take several weeks — start it the day you sign.
LanguageFrench for leases, agencies and utilities. English varies by arrondissement. Your Insider works with you in English and negotiates on your behalf in whatever the lease is written in.
Relocation tools
Plan the move to Paris
Small tools built on this guide: what a month costs, the steps in order, what to pack and what to do when you land. Indicative figures, in the local currency.
- Cost calculatorA month in the city, three ways, in the local currency.Open
- Visa timelineYour route, step by step, with how long each part takes.Open
- Neighbourhood matchmakerFour questions, one neighbourhood, and what a one-bed costs there.Open
- Packing listA checklist for this city and the season you land in.Open
- First 48 hoursWhat to do first after landing, in the order that works.Open
- Local appsThe phone setup that runs daily life, and what each replaces.Open
- Speak localUseful phrases for taxis, cafés and the flat, read aloud.Open
- Dish finderWhat to order, by time of day, and what it is called.Open
- Weekend getawaysEasy escapes, by travel time and how you get there.Open
Pricing for Paris
What a move to Paris costs
These are the fees in Paris, published before you start, in euros. No commission on your rent, no percentage of the lease, no success fee.
Visit
Your Insider visits for you€49single · €99 pack of 3- In-person visit by a local Insider
- Video walkthrough
- Area report
- Scam check
- Most popular
Starter
Full home search€899flat fee · Paris- Personal shortlist
- Viewings with video
- Lease negotiation & review
- Handover & keys
- 50% to start, 50% at the keys
Premium
Home search + full setup€1,900flat fee · Paris- Everything in Starter
- Bank, SIM & registration
- Utilities & internet
- Healthcare & school search
- First-week orientation
The full guide
Five deep dives for someone arriving, not visiting
- Housing A findable market with a hard gate: the dossier, and the French-resident guarantor most landlords still expect behind it.
- Paperwork France runs on documents that reference other documents: the bank needs an address, the address needs a lease, the lease needs a bank account.
- Healthcare One of the best-funded systems in Europe, built on reimbursement rather than free-at-the-point-of-use, with a top-up policy filling the rest.
- Schools Free state schools allocated by strict street-level sectorisation, a large Catholic sous contrat sector, and international sections inside the public system.
- Getting around A dense metro, one €90.80 Navigo pass covering the whole region, and a city that has spent a decade removing space from cars.
On the ground
Alfred, Antoine, Capu, Eva, Nico — the people behind Insidoor.
Every Insider lives in their city and holds a verified ID. We match you on language and on who is coming with you.
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